26 June 2017

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae expressed dismay Saturday over what it called "false" reports by a Japanese newspaper that suggested a possible crack in the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

The rare rejection by Cheong Wa Dae came after Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported that the U.S. has urged South Korea to allow complete deployment of the THAAD U.S. missile defense system here before the year's end.

Quoting unidentified U.S. sources, the Japanese daily said such a request was filed by Thomas Shannon, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, during his trip to Seoul earlier this month.

Yoon Young-chan, the chief press secretary for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, flatly dismissed the report, calling it "incorrect."

"The Asahi Shimbun's report that U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon demanded the deployment of the THAAD before the year's end in a meeting with our government officials is not true," the Cheong Wa Dae official said in a released statement.